Afghanistan war to end next year: Obama

WASHINGTON (PAN): The war against terror in Afghanistan would come to an end by next year, US President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

The United States was transferring Guantanamo bay detainees to other countries, Obama said in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

“Next year, an international coalition will end its war in Afghanistan, having achieved its mission of dismantling the core of Al-Qaida that attacked us on 9/11,” he said.

Five years ago, he recalled, nearly 180,000 Americans were serving in harm's way and the war in Iraq was the dominant issue in America’s relationship with the rest of the world.

“Today all of our troops have left Iraq,” he added, as the US is preparing to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. Obama argued new circumstances had meant shifting away from a perpetual war footing.

“Beyond bringing our troops home, we have limited the use of drones so they target only those who pose a continuing threat to the US where capture is not feasible and there's a near-certainty of no civilian casualties,” he said.

“We're transferring detainees to other countries and trying terrorists in courts of law while working diligently to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay,” continued the president.

His administration had begun reviewing the way the US gathered intelligence so that legitimate security concerns of citizens and allies were balanced with privacy concerns that all people shared, he explained.

“As a result of this work and in cooperation with allies and partners, the world is more stable than it was five years ago,” Obama maintained.